Getting reacquainted with Martin...

Well, being busy with the new band and all, I haven't spent much time on the acoustic (aka Martin)...but I decided to try out a song that was recommended a while ago. It didn't come out too bad, however, the same rules still apply to my high-quality bedroom recordings...gotta crank it to hear it. Enjoy...

My Idol $0.02...

To think I almost missed the finale! Okay, I honestly didn't really care to see it...until I was flipping through the channels and saw ZZ Top! Nice. The OneRepublic tune was cool...I actually wish Archuleta (sp?) didn't join in on that. Sounded better as is. Jordan Sparks song was horrible... but that girls range just amazes me, doesn't matter what she sings. Ah, same goes to Carrie Underwood...but that song she sang was even more terrible. She's gotten a bit red-neck country. Yek.

As for my thoughts on the winner... how can you compare Archuleta and Cook? They're both awesome in very different ways. I think I was actually pulling a bit more for Archuleta just because being stamped as the American Idol can't be all that great to a rockers career.

FNP and the Burger Off...

FNP rocked. Apparently, the key is: beer. Not sure how I'm doing on the spreadsheet but if I can get a DD for FNP's...watch out! ;)

The Burger Off, which was a bit 'off', went well. The Fat Kid made an excellent burger with a touch of horseradish, twas yummy. But it was a bit disappointing that by the time he got his burgers done everyone was already full. For future reference, Burger Off's should never have more than 4 burgers! But hat's off to all the cooks, all the burgers were awesome.

Lastly...just a little rant. Now, I can't be too bitter about this because I do my fair share of ...um, raising my voice and occasionally picking up the acoustic fairly late at night. But what I do not do is yell, curse words and all, on Saturday AND Sunday mornings! I'm talking 7:30am-9am...just F-this and that...I'm a fairly heavy sleeper too! No, this does not happen during the week when I'd welcome some extra drama to wake me up. I need to win the lotto and move. :-(

Happy belated Mother's day!....

Hope everyone had a good Mother's Day! :) I know I enjoyed my breakfast in bed and Scrubs session. It occurred to me recently that I think 7 is the best age for boys. We go out and play ball and he's able to catch the ball most the time...and lord knows, he bats better than me. And now when I pick him up at the end of the day, he doesn't cry anymore! He actually gives me an unsolicited hug and even went as far as asking me how my day was the other day! So sweet. :-D

A pic from our rainy DC field trip...



And continuing on this Mother's Day post... Norweigan Cruise line is having a kids sail free deal. So, go book your vacation! (Preferably the July 21st sailing...so you can hang with us!)

You all raaaawk!!!!...

First of, huge thanks to those who came out to the Ballroom for the ke Cinco show. I had a blast and it was great seeing everyone, and actually getting to play for friends again! It was bummer that we only played until 10:30...but Everyone But Pete (super nice guys, whom happen to rock!!) probably wanted to play too. :)

We have pics from the show up here (and while you're there don't forget to sign up to be on our mailing list): http://karmaelektra.com/pics.php

In other news...

Sunday marked the first Great Falls climbing visit of the year. Yes, it's May and I'm just now getting out there...so sad. Nonetheless, so much fun.

I'm also getting my feet wet with this whole social media thing. I'm taking things slow though. I've had and neglect my mySpace account pretty much to save my sanity. So, I've been toying with Facebook of late. I'm still not sure I see what all the fuss is about...maybe I'm just a web snob, but all these applications and much of which I can't seem to get it to do what I want. Booo to that. With that said, try it and be my 'friend'!

C-A-P-S!!!!!!!......

CAPS CAPS CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPS!!!!!

Meet the ke bunch...

So the May 3rd details...we are playing with a band called Everyone But Pete. But I know you all will come just to see the salsa band. And without further ado, from left to right...I'd like to introduce you all to Ashish, Dave, lilsingerchic, Dana, Jake, and Mike (back).

Mark your calendars...

As many of you are aware, I recently joined another band. It hasn't received any attention on this blog due to the fact that it's online representation isn't quite what it should be. But it's in the works...

Anyhow, AWESOME news!! We played a birthday party the other weekend, and after much crammed practice and a week of memorizing 20+ songs, it went well...well enough that we got booked for the May 3rd at the Clarendon Ballroom! Very excited...we'll be playing a Cinco De Mayo Event. More details will follow. :-D

Baseball has been very good to Tyler...

It's been a very baseball-ish month for the crew here. We went and saw the Nationals at their new ballpark on Sunday. Very nice ballpark, anyone who hasn't checked it out should definitely go. Here are the boys running the bases afterwards...



Saturday was Ty's little league season opener. Here he is up at bat...



And in older news... My 10 miler was a success. I beat the sweep vehicle...woohoo!! Ahem, sans headphones. :) I could've done without the rain, but such is life.

In conclusion, I just wanted to bring up my struggling Caps. As of tonight, they are down 2-1 in the series to the Flyers. Let's all will the Caps to start Kolzig in the next game and to knock it off with the friggin' turnovers!!! errrrrr! K. I'm done.

Hello Hayden...

Congrats to Scott and Stacy!! Just look at that poker face... :-D

Keeping the blog alive, sorta new site and running sans headphones(?!)...

So, not much to report on. Busy, busy.

In old news, the IRF site finally went live. This was built on the supah dupah CMS, Expression Engine. A few pulling-out-my-hair sessions, but generally speaking...it went smoothly. Blog pages for them are currently in development. I know, I know...you all can't wait to post! Although I'd love to take all the credit, the designer and copywriter/client/Fat Kid were awesome.

Oh, and one more thing...I have a bone to pick with this Cherry Blossom 10-miler thing. I somehow convinced myself I could do this primarily because it was assumed I could wear my headphones. No headphones allowed!! Seriously, I'm doomed.

Quality education...

It's no secret that lately I've been unmotivated when it comes to school and this experience has done nothing but solidify my belief that college is, for the most part, a waste of time and money. That is not to say I don't believe in going to school and getting a good education. It's just a very sad situation that people pay a good amount to get an 'education' that is worthless.

My case: As much as it pained me to switch my major, I decided to drop business and go into IT. Mostly just sad about the two semesters of Accounting with the meanest teacher on earth...I didn't have to do that?!!

Anyways, I signed up for 3 IT courses through NVCC since they transfer over the GMU. Well, one of those courses happens to be Multimedia Software...well, seriously now...I could teach that course. And I don't mind taking it, I realize it's a requirement. My issue is what they're teaching...it's wrong. I won't go into a long diatribe, but basically, they are teaching methods and software that isn't relevant in today's market.

After emailing the instructor about my thoughts I get a nice response basically saying 'Sorry you're disappointed. Submit your assignments using the method you're used to'. Well, that's good but it does nothing to alleviate my concern that once I do get into more IT classes in which I will be wanting to learn new things...how will I know that I won't be learning methods that weren't used back in the stone age?

Oh well...I guess that's what happens when you pay $87 per credit. Which brings me to a whole other issue...only rich people can get a good education? Ok, I'll stop there. I'm not liking the education system right now.

Various tidbits...

So, Ty's and I were sick most of last week. Poor Ty got the flu and I got something that had me coughing up my lungs the majority of the week. All is better now. So, while I stayed home with my throbbing head I was reading a book on polygamy. I've gotta mention it because it was quite the interesting read. I actually found the fact that these women along with their umpteen kids would live together in a shack to be the most disturbing of it all. Of course, the husband is off marrying whatever he can get his hands on all the while... How touching.

I almost hate to say it, but anybody keeping up with the Idols this year? (hey, being sick gets boring...TV happened to be there...) The guys blow the chics away, but I haven't decided which I like the best yet. Maybe this guy, I give this the 'best Idol performance ever' title...



And lastly, Ty's had his last basketball game of the season on Saturday. That's him getting his trophy. Go Ty! Next up, baseball... again.

Ice climbing trip '08...

So, I decided to go back to NH to do some ice climbing. If you are a dedicated reader, you will already know this was the site of my first ice climbing experience. But this time, I did take part in the ice climbing festival festivities. We decided to do the ice climbing basic course and the second day we did a guided climb. We really tried to get to the slideshows...but ice climbing is so tiring!!

The first day was revisiting Cathedral Ledge, but this time since we were taking a course...I actually learned ice climbing technique. So, I faired much better. Though I still took some 'graceful' falls.

The second day we went to an area called Frankenstein and ran laps up a route called the 'Cave Route'. It was a very very cool place...





It was a great trip. Our guides were awesome and the weather was good. Should any of you decide to take a trip up there, my recommendations:

- Peaches. A "must-go" for breakfast.
- Moose Mountain (I think?? It's something like that). They make blueberry beer, and it ain't all that bad. All their beer was good. Not to mention the nachos were pretty killer.
- Do not rent a Chevy Malibu. Oddly enough, not the best car in cold weather.

The makings of an awesome weekend...

1. First and foremost, my girl scout cookies came in!! Thin Mints kick a$$.


2. I purchased a new acoustic guitar. A nice little Martin. I've managed to not get anything done around the house because of him.


3. Came out on the positive side at poker for the second week in a row. And I'd just like to add...the ladies are rockin' the google spreadsheet. :-P


4. Having Monday off.... Such a happy ending.

Next post: the 2008 ice climbing adventure.

The end of my Swiftkick days....

Well it's been quite some time since I stepped in the keyboard nazi's basement and auditioned, but it's time to move on. I officially resigned my spot as the singer/red tambourine-ist as of Monday. Once the two Ryan's left (drummer and keyboardist), I never really got back into it and the whole dynamic of the band, both on stage and off, has never been quite right with me since.

It was tough decision to make and I'm sad about it, but I feel it's for the best.

Super Bowl highlights....

Jordan Sparks...wow...really, WOW. Her National Anthem blew me away. And I actually didn't care for her on American Idol. If I may put on my Simon hat here, I'd say that was her best performance.

Tom Petty was awesome, I dug it. The performance had the potential to rock the house, but I believe any show that has a lighted stage in the shape of heart automatically is denied the 'rock the house' rating.

Favorite commercial was the baby. (Yea, Ty's made me watch some of the game...)

Ha! You didn't think this post would actually be about football, did you?? :)

'I used to have a mom...

...before eBay slashed their listing fee's by half!' - future quote from children around the world who's mother is an eBay addict.

You know who you are. ;-P

I'm 80% with Yvon...

So, upon my daily blog perusing I came across a familiar name from the climbing scene in a techy blog. Oh, happy blog day...my two favorite worlds collided! :-D

Yvon Chouinard founded the large and awesome company, Patagonia, and was (and probably still is) an awesome climber. Which makes me proud to say, I think I share in one of his traits...

I’ve always thought of myself as an 80 percenter. I like to throw myself passionately into a sport or activity until I reach 80 percent proficiency level. To go beyond that requires an obsession and degree of specialization that doesn’t appeal to me. - Yvon Chouinard

AMEN. I can't wait to read 80% of his book.

Scenes from Massanutten

Ty's first ski lesson with his instructor, Tyler :) Short, nothing too exciting...



...and his spunky rendition of "Don't You Want Me"